Abrasive discs for polishing and abrading applications are known. Generally such discs are releasably attached to a rotatable chuck, backup pad or shaft of a machine. There are a variety of means for attaching abrasive discs to a machine. Polishing discs and abrasive discs for light abrading applications may be releasably secured to a back-up pad e.g. by pressure sensitive adhesive, hook and loop fastener etc., and the back-up pad attached to the machine by a central boss or spindle. Another means of attachment comprises providing the disc with a central hub or boss. The hub may have an internal thread for engagement with a threaded shaft mounted on the machine. Alternatively the hub may have a central aperture through which a thread shaft mounted on the machine is inserted and secured by a nut. A further means of attachment comprises providing a disc with a central shaft which may be engaged by a rotatable chuck mounted on the machine.
JP 11320423A discloses a method of making a polishing disc in which a disc of non-woven fibres having a central aperture is placed in a mould and a boss having a central through aperture is formed by injection moulding a thermoplastic material. The molten thermoplastic material penetrates between the non-woven fibres to secure the boss to the disc. The boss may be provided with an interior thread formed on the perimeter surface of the central aperture to facilitate attachment to a machine.
Abrasive articles comprising a disc of non-woven fibres having a central metal shaft are commercially available from 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn., USA under the trade name CLEAN 'N STRIP Abrasive Disc. The abrasive articles are formed by inserting one end of a metal shaft into a central aperture in the disc, applying a circular paper label having a central aperture around the shaft and contacting one major surface of the disc, injecting curable epoxy resin from a plurality of nozzles into the central region of the web from the opposite side to the label such that the epoxy resin surrounds the end of the shaft and penetrates between the fibres of the disc. The epoxy resin is cured to secure the shaft. The paper plastic label acts as a barrier to the epoxy resin to prevent it flowing out of the disc. The shaft has a knurled end to facilitate secure bonding. While this method of securing the shaft to the disc is effective, the two part epoxy resin system is expensive and the production time is undesirably long.